Attorney trying to get Mario Casciaro out of prison quickly after murder conviction overturned

DOWNERS GROVE – Signs held by friends, family and supporters of Mario Casciaro in a news conference Friday made their message clear – they want Casciaro released from prison as soon as possible.

About 30 people filled the conference room holding signs reading "Free Mario now" and "Mario wrongfully convicted."

Casciaro, who was once convicted of first-degree murder, could now walk free.

A jury found Casciaro, 32, guilty of murdering 17-year-old Brian Carrick. Carrick last was seen Dec. 20, 2002, at the Johnsburg grocery store where he worked, which also was owned by Casciaro's parents.

A ruling by the 2nd District Appellate Court reversed the verdict Thursday because they said evidence was so lacking and improbable that the state failed to prove Casciaro's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Kathleen Zellner, Casciaro's attorney, held a news conference Friday and said "our plan is to get him out as quickly as possible."

Zellner said Casciaro is being held at Menard Correctional Center.

McHenry County Prosecutor Michael Combs said Thursday, "We are disappointed, and we disagree with the decision, and we plan on filing an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court."

"We do not believe the Illinois Supreme Court will look twice at this case," Zellner said, adding that Casciaro should be released immediately.

Zellner said if an appeal is filed, she will file a motion this afternoon with the appellate court to bond him out, and said she expects the court to bond him out next week.

Casciaro's sister, Julia Muell, spoke for the family Friday. Her siblings and parents were behind her.

"We are ecstatic that Mario will finally be released," Muell said. "This is the best day of our lives."
Muell said she told her brother the news this morning.

"He's just not gonna believe it until he steps out of there," Muell said.

She said Casciaro is a very optimistic person, and has had one of the best attitudes she's ever seen through this.

Muell said Casciaro hopes to go to law school after he's released, and team up with people such as Ryan Ferguson, who attended the conference, and had also been wrongfully convicted.

"There are so many wrongfully convicted people in prison right now that all need help," Ferguson said.
"Hopefully the more we spread awareness about these injustices, and talk about what's really happening, the more lives will be saved."

Casciaro's father, Jerry Casciaro, said he had one message for his son: "Come to the family as soon as you can."

"Although this nightmare is over for us, it is not for the Carricks," Muell said. "They deserve to know what's happened to their brother."

Carrick's body never was found, and he is presumed dead. He would have turned 30 years old on Sunday.

It was a case that had stymied detectives for years. After two jury trials – the first ended in a mistrial on an 11-to-1 hung jury – Casciaro was sentenced Nov. 14, 2013, to 26 years in prison.

Shane Lamb worked at the same grocery story as Casciaro and Carrick. Prosecutors have said that Casciaro used Lamb as the "muscle" or a "henchman" to intimidate Carrick into paying the drug debt.

Appellate Court Justice Kathryn Zenoff wrote in her ruling the state failed to prove Lamb committed intimidation as a principal.

"The inference that defendant's call to Lamb was a solicitation for Lamb to threaten Carrick is not rationally connected to and does not more likely than not flow from the basic fact that defendant asked Lamb to 'talk' to Carrick," Zenoff said in the ruling.

"The physical evidence and the testimony of disinterested witnesses show that whatever happened to Carrick could not have been what Lamb portrayed," the ruling stated.

Zellner said she anticipates the Casciaro family will seek compensation because they have now financed three trials and a direct appeal.